Andrián Pertout reports from the 2016 Asian Composers League
(ACL) Festival & Conference / 'Asia-Europe' New Music
Festival in Vietnam.

Established in 1973 as a means of promoting the art music
activities in Asian countries and fostering mutual exchange
between these countries, the Asian Composers' League (ACL) is a
contemporary music organisation in the Asia-Pacific region
currently comprising of fourteen official member countries and
regions: Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Tatarstan,
Thailand, and Turkey. The inaugural ACL Conference and Festival
took place in Hong Kong in 1973, and since then events have been
organised annually or biennially.

The 34th Asian Composers League Festival and Conference was held
in Hanoi and Vinh Yen on 12-18 October 2016, organised by the
Vietnam Musicians' Association. The seven-day event also
incorporated the 2nd 'Asia-Europe' New Music Festival and
consisted of eleven concerts dedicated to symphony orchestra,
chamber music, choral music, and traditional music, as well as a
special 'Friendship Melodies' concert and the obligatory 'ACL
Young Composers Competition' concert.

The slogan for this year's festival was 'Music: Convergence and
Pervasion', and included was a workshop component featuring the
Vietnamese dan bau (monochord zither) as well as topics relating
to aspects of the Asia/Europe cultural exchange. The participants
of the festival consisted of over 100 composers from Australia,
Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, New
Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russian, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan,
Tatarstan, Thailand, Turkey, USA, and Vietnam.

The young composer selected to represent Australia was
Stephen Lebsanft from Melbourne (a current
student from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of
Melbourne) with the work Rhapsody for solo viola (2016),
presented as part of the 'ACL Young Composers Competition'
concert at the Vietnam National Academy of Music. Other
representation from Australia included Eve
Duncan'sThe Banquet of Cleopatra and In a
Corner of the Macintyre for brass quintet (2016), Andrián
Pertout'sAngustam Amice for choir (SATB) and string
orchestra, no. 428 (2014-2015) - which was performed by the
Vietnam National Opera and Ballet Choir and the Vietnam National
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Zoe Zeniodi (Greece/USA),
Johanna Selleck's
Homage to Liszt for solo piano (2013) and
Natalya Vagner'sThe Ride to the Crescent
Moon for oboe, flute, violin, dan bau and piano (2016).
These works were featured in the chamber music concerts and
'Closing Ceremony and Gala Concert' respectively.

The opening ceremony and concert took place at the Hanoi Opera
House - one of Hanoi's important cultural and architectural
monuments, built by the French colonial administration between
1901 and 1911, and modelled on the Palais Garnier opera house in
Paris. The concert, featuring the Vietnam National Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Tetsuji Honna, was organised into two
parts, with the second part 'Conductors are Composers' framing
the music of Isao Matsushita (Japan), Richard Tsang (Hong Kong),
Robert Casteels (Singapore), Do Hong Quan (Vietnam) and Nguyen
Thieu Hoa (Vietnam). Highlights of the concert included Marc
Battier's (France) Recollections for orchestra - a
stunningly beautiful gestural work with an electroacoustic
component that delicately layered the orchestra with a collection
of subtle overtones; Isao Matsushita's (Japan) Air of the
Firmament for solo violin and chamber orchestra, which
focused on an exploration of a simple yet lyrical melodic line
soaring over a rich harmonic bed of exquisite orchestral colours;
Robert Casteels's (Singapore) Cu Rùa: Symphonic Poem for
dan bau and orchestra - a quirky, pulse-driven frantic piece,
imaginatively orchestrated, featuring the Vietnamese monochord
zither; and Nguyen Thieu Hoa's (Vietnam) Concerto for
solo nhi and orchestra, which was a folk-inspired work showcasing
the amazing virtuosity of Nguyen The Dan on Vietnamese two-string
fiddle - a virtuosity that has gained him both the 'Elite Artist'
title in 1997 and the 'People's Artist' title in 2016.

The second day of the festival included two concerts at the
Concert Hall of the Vietnam National Academy of Music. The first
concert highlighted new generations of Vietnamese composers,
including Nguyen Minh Trang's Duet for sáo trúc
(Vietnamese bamboo flute) and đàn tranh (16-string Vietnamese
zither) and Pham Thi Hue's Kieu Khuc for tỳ bà
(Vietnamese lute) and voice. The latter featured the expressive
Ca Tru melodies that derive from the epic poem 'The Tale of Kieu
by Nguyen Du', delightfully rendered by vocalist,
multi-instrumentalist and composer Pham Thi Hue. The second
featured the Asia/America New Music Institute (AANMI), which is
an association founded by American composer Chad Cannon and
dedicated to promoting new music relationships between Asia and
the Americas. Interesting to note is that over the years AANMI
has presented concerts in Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Los
Angeles, New York City, Bangkok, Hanoi, Salt Lake Coty, Okinawa,
and Seoul. One of the great works in the program was Harue
Kondoh's (Japan) elegantly subdued yet highly emotive
Moh-Ashibi for sanshin (3-string Japanese lute) and
violin.

Chamber music concerts on the third day featured Kyoung Ja Kim's
(Korea) Deux Chemins (Two Paths) for violin, viola and
violoncello, a striking work with long-drawn-out notes gently
decorated with intermittent glissandi - the musicality displayed
by Moscow Conservatory graduates Stepan Yakovich (violin), Lev
Serov (viola), Dmitry Feygin (violocello) within their
interpretation of the work was electric. One of the works we did
not hear on the program was Dan Yuhas's (Israel) Trio for
clarinet, violin and pianoforte, which was cancelled (along with
various other works during the festival) for what could be
politely expressed as 'technical' reasons. The first part of the
night concert featured arrangements of Andalusian songs (adorned
by the words of Federico García Lorca) by Spanish
composer/pianist Domènec González de la Rubia, performed in
partnership with singer Estela Barrientos (Spain). The second
part then presented the world premiere of the Australian Natalya
Vagner's playful and energetic The Ride to the Crescent
Moon, a fitting tribute to Natalya's encounter with Vietnam.

Highlights of further chamber music concerts during the festival
included Alexander Tchaikovsky's (Russia) slow-moving and
relenting Schnittke-like String Quintet (Piano); Dang Hong Anh's
(Vietnam/Poland) folk-inspired and Bartók-like Capricio 'Tay
Nguyen' for string orchestra; and Yii Kah Hoe's (Malaysia)
modernist yet minimalist My Spirit is Singing for solo
oboe, which, with its limited pitch material ornamented
occasionally with multiphonics, effectively explored spatial
variation within the acoustic environment of the concert hall
(the constantly shifting position of the player - moving from the
front, to the middle and then to the back of the hall - sonically
compelling). A composition that certainly made a mark in this
trio of events was Moisès Bertran's (Colombia) Camins de
vidre for violin and piano - an expressive, well-crafted,
and sensitive work of great emotional conviction, masterfully
interpreted by violinist Ala Voronkova and pianist Guerassim
Voronkov (Russia/Spain).

On the second last day, the festival travelled to Vinh Yen for
the 'Friendship Melodies Concert' - Vinh Yen is the capital city
of Vinh Phúc Province, in the Red River Delta region of northern
Vietnam, and one of its scenic virtues is the Dam Vac Lake that
surrounds the urban landscape with its many intertwined lakes and
ponds. It is here that we were all treated to a more relaxed
'resort' environment and a night event celebrating both the folk
and popular music of the region (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), as
well as that of Asia's north (Japan). Most memorable was a
performance by Kodō, the world-famous professional taiko drumming
troupe from Sado Island (a large island situated in the Niigata
Prefecture, in the Chūbu region of Japan). Kodō's performance was
exhilarating, and the level of precision, stamina and imagination
presented within their entertaining 'audience friendly' routines
was astounding.

The closing ceremony and gala concert on Tuesday, 18 October at
the Grand Concert Hall of the Vietnam National Academy of Music
delivered the results of the '23rd ACL Young Composers
Competition,' with first, second and third prizes going to
Po-Chien Liu (Taiwan), Hisataka Nishimori (Japan) and Jonathan M.
Domingo (Philippines) respectively. The 2016 ACL Yoshiro Irino
Memorial Prize went to Tran Luu Hoang (Philippines) for his work
Fantasie for clarinet, violoncello and piano. This
award, initiated in 1988, nominates the best musical work by a
composer from the host country under the age 35 at each ACL
festival. The 2016 ACL Hsu Tsang-Houei Memorial Prize (best work
utilising traditional instruments by a composer from the host
country) went to Nguyen Minh Trang (Vietnam) for her work
Duet for sáo trúc (Vietnamese bamboo flute) and đàn
tranh (16-string Vietnamese zither). The Best Performance Award
went to the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra and its chief
conductor Tetsuji Honna. One of the highlights of the actual
concert was Azamat Khassanshin's (Russia) Altun Urda for
symphony orchestra - a dedication to the empire of the Turks and
Mongols (XIII-XV centuries), and a work characterising the
grandest of orchestral traditions.

The hospitality and generosity of the Vietnamese throughout the
festival was simply incredible. Not only did they pick up and
drop off everybody from and to the airport (yes, over 100
composers, not to mention the other countless number of invited
performers), but they also managed to feed everybody, morning,
day, and night, which is an amazing undertaking in itself. I was
personally overwhelmed by the very fact that the Vietnam
Musicians' Association had engaged the Vietnam National Opera and
Ballet Choir for one work alone, which happened to be my own
work. The combined sensory power of the Vietnam National Opera
and Ballet Choir and the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra were
sensational.

In this, my second musical adventure to the region, I have come
away reflecting on the understanding that Vietnam is certainly a
country that supports culture and the arts with unsurmountable
pride and commitment. The musical experience was just great - and
the food unforgettable (make a note of the following: Pho at Pho
10, Bún cha at KOTO on Van Mieu; prawn spring rolls with mango
salsa at Madame Hien [a restored 19th-century villa]; steam
codfish with ginger and spring onion in superior soya sauce at
the Lý Club [an elegant French colonial mansion).

The next ACL Festival and Conference is scheduled to take place
in Taipei (Taiwan) in the latter part of 2018, and so there will
be no official ACL festival in 2017, although the Japan
Federation of Composers (JFC) is planning to host an ACL Special
Festival in November next year.

Andrián Pertout is a freelance composer. His music has been performed in over forty countries around the world, and he was Honorary Fellow at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne (2007-2015) and President of the Melbourne Composers’ League (2009-2013). He is currently Australian Delegate of the Asian Composers’ League, Lecturer in Composition at the Faculty of the VCA (University of Melbourne), and also teaches composition and production at the Australian Institute of Music (AIM).

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